Press Release

SACRAMENTO – Effective today, April 1, 2004, Dr. Kevin Starr, is retiring as State Librarian of California after ten years of service at the California State Library.

Commenting on his tenure at the California State Library, Starr says, "For the past decade, it has been my honor and privilege to serve the people of California through librarianship. In the ten years that I've been State Librarian, I've tried to increase the visibility of the California State Library and the public libraries of California as these institutions serve the people and the heritage of our great state."

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has named Starr "State Librarian Emeritus." Gov. Schwarzenegger says in an official proclamation to Starr that

"Your commitment to our state has earned you the respect and deep appreciation of your students, colleagues and fellow Californians. Therefore, it is my distinct honor to bestow on you the title of State Librarian Emeritus."

Starr says it has been his "pleasure to work with Governor Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver." "As brief as our relationship has been," Starr says, "I am convinced that they will each find a place of honor in the history of our great state."

About his plans for the future, Starr says he will teach full-time at the University of Southern California, Department of History. Starr reports "three books under contract, one of which will complete my Americans in the California Dream series."

Biographical Sketch of Dr. Kevin Starr:

Kevin Starr is the seventh State Librarian of California since 1900. After graduation from the University of San Francisco in 1962, Starr served two years as a lieutenant in a tank battalion in Germany. Upon release from the service, Starr entered Harvard University where he took his MA degree in 1965 and his PhD in 1969 in American Literature. He also holds the Master of Library Science degree from UC Berkeley and has done post-doctoral work at the Graduate Theological Union. Starr has served as the City Librarian of San Francisco.

Starr currently holds the rank of University Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and, is a contributing editor to the Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times. The author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles, Starr has written ten books, six of which are part of his Americans and the California Dream series. His writing has won him a Guggenheim Fellowship, membership in the Society of American Historians, and the Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California.